Bottle closures



w. HENNINGS 2,889,951

BOTTLE CLOSURES Filed Aug. 1'7. 1955 June 9, 1959 IN VE N TOE WEKNEfl H ENNINGS United States Patent BOTTLE CLOSURES Werner Hennings, Bunde-Ennigloh, Germany, assignor to Bunder-Glas G.m.b.H., Bnnde, Westphalia, Germany, a German company Application August 17, 1955, Serial No. 528,964 Claims priority, application Germany October 22, 1954 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-47) It is known to provide plastic closures for restraining movement of tablets, dragees and the like in the appropriate receptacle, which closures are formed as stoppers and have inwardly projecting shaped claws or extensions which bear resiliently on the contents of the receptacle. Former stoppers of this kind possess several disadvantages, for example the claws bear only at the edge on the tablets or like contents of the receptacle so that, for example, tilting of the tablets or penetration of the dragees between the claws takes place. A further disadvantage was the impossibility of using the stoppers, if desired, without the claws.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved closure members in which the above mentioned disadvantages are avoided.

According to the invention a closure, especially of plastic, for bottles, flasks and like containers comprises a hollow stopper portion utilizable as such for the closure of the container and a resilient portion insertable in said hollow stopper portion so as to be held thereby, said resilient portion having claw-like parts which when said portion is inserted in the hollow stopper portion project therefrom and are adapted to bear on the contents, e.g. tablets, dragees and the like, of a container to restrain movement of said contents within the container.

The closures of the present invention have furthermore the advantage that one and the same stopper shape can be used with and without claws, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs and the stock requirements.

Two difierent embodiments of a closure in accordance with the invention are illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, of the accompanying drawing.

In Figure 1 there is shown a lid portion 1 of a closure fitted with a hollow stopper portion 2 having packing ribs 3. In the hollow stopper 2 there is inserted a separately manufactured supplementary part 4 which lies resiliently against the inner wall of the hollow stopper 2 and has downward lobes 6 formed by cuts or incisions 5, these I lobes terminating in a dome-shaped manner and with their pointed converging ends bearing against the receptacle contents, e.g. tablets, which are not illustrated. Both parts 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 are so constructed that they can each be taken out from a two-part mold which 'ice 2 has no movable dies or the like. Their union takes place by simply fixing one within the other.

In the embodiment according to Figure 2 the inside of the hollow stopper 2 is provided with ribs 7, into which can be inserted the supplementary part 4 which has correspcndingly adapted external grooves 8. In place of single ribs or grooves, helical threads cari be provided so that the part 4 can be rotated into the hollow cylinder 2 up to any desired depth. I

The lobes 6 are joined to one another at their pointed ends as indicated at 9. This enhances the stability and prevents a complete distortion or cramping of the individual lobes 6.

I claim:

1. A closure member adapted to exert resilient pressure upon the contents of a receptacle filled to a varying level with loosely packed solid pieces, comprising a hollow stopper portion engageable with a mouth opening of said container and a resilient insert removably fitting inside said stopper portion and projecting downwardly therefrom, said insert being provided with deformable, prong-like appendages integrally depending therefrom, said appendages being segments of a paraboloidal lower substantially closed portion of said insert joined to a cylindrical upper portion thereof.

2. A closure member adapted to exert resilient pressure upon the contents of a receptacle filled to a varying level with loosely packed solid pieces, comprising a hollow stopper portion engageable with a mouth opening of said container and a resilient insert removably fitting inside said stopped portion and projecting downwardly therefrom, said insert being provided with deformable, prong-like appendages integrally depending therefrom, said insert and said stopper portion being provided with mating external and internal surface formations adapted yieldingly to engage one another.

3. A closure member adapted to exert resilient pressure upon the contents of a receptacle filled to a varying level with loosely packed solid pieces, comprising a hollow stopper portion engageable with a mouth opening of said container and a resilient insert removably fitting inside said stopped portion and projecting downwardly therefrom, said insert being provided with deformable, prong-like appendages integrally depending therefrom, said appendages being joined together at their lower ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 415,939 Cohn et al. Nov. 26, 1889 584,091 Leidich June 8, 1897 2,196,785 Takiguchi Apr. 9, 1940 2,767,864 Van Litsenburg Oct. 23, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 707,168 France Apr. 13, 1931 526,734 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1940 

